Then you climb more than 800 feet in 2 miles through a collage of deeply wooded forests and clear-cuts and then quickly drop about 600 feet back down for the next 2 miles. This side of the mountain dead ends into a dramatic bend in the river, creating a secret little peninsula. It’s a place where cell phone towers don’t reach, where cable and gas companies couldn’t justify running their lines and where the mail lady can only deliver to mailboxes placed in clusters.

Going down our totally hidden driveway, you come out of the trees and into the open space that gradually drops to the river. We are bordered by a creek surrounded by old growth trees. To understand what I mean by old growth… these are old springboard notches. And there are 30+ year old trees growing out of their stumps.

Spingboard notches

30+ year old trees growing out of stumps

30+ year old trees growing out of stumps

30+ year old trees growing out of stumps

From the high ground at the house, you wind down to the wetlands (which Mitch mentioned here) through the center. The land rises slightly again before dropping into the bank of the Siletz. Framed by the creek and with a yearly flood in the lower field, the property is ever-changing and we expect that these explorations will be full of new discoveries as the seasons change as well as year after year.

My Dad trudging through

Dad and Mom helping investigate.

Pile up from flood waters

The creek

Wilbur swimming

Looking back toward the house

Studying the soil, the water movement and the sun’s path, Mitch has discovered so much about the dynamics of the property. Move ten feet and you will be standing on a completely different type of ground. These are soil samples from the upper field, the wetlands and the lower field. Once settled, they are worlds apart!

Dry soil samples

Dry soil samples

Settled soil samples

Pretty amazing, huh!? Here is what he determined about the way the property is made up….

I am not sure what we will end up doing with this information… guess that is what his class is for! This was previously a dairy farm. When the farm was inherited by the next generation, they retired that business and no farming was done. A neighbor told us that they used the coop to grow pheasants, which was a program set up by Oregon State University years ago to replenish the bird’s population. We also know that the rows of alders were planted in an attempt to continue to receive the farm tax credit. It seems that in this climate and location, there are very limited options for sustainable growth. That is hard to wrap my head around… looking out at vast green and abundant life everywhere… how can it be so hard? Obviously, as with everything we are trying to tackle out here, we have a LOT to learn.

The last thing we noticed on our recent trek is a little sad… this is a before-and-after series of a beautiful tree near where you enter the property. I am not sure which storm managed to break it apart… there have been so many! Although sad, it is definitely not tragic. As you can see, there is no shortage of breathtaking beauty here.

I loved the pictures and your descriptions; I feel like I’m there! And I love how you are both (or maybe just Mitch?!) are so scientific and organized about learning as much as you can about the land before you make a decision about what to do and how… So awesome!

Thanks Jill! It’s just Mitch. I’m the one who impatiently tries to speed through things. I am definitely having a hard time watching seeds slowly sprout and not-so-patiently waiting for the chickens to grow up and start laying eggs.

Yes, getting VERY excited! Though Bill has in his head that we, also, should have chickens – yes, in our backyard here in Seattle! – and I worry a bit that he’ll manage to put up the coop and find some occupants while I’m away. 😉